The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for distributing an emergency warning utilizing an existing wirelined, wireless or computer-based telecommunication system.
In the event of an imminent emergency situation, such as severe weather, flooding, fire, etc. a government authority normally sends a general public warning message via television or radio in an attempt to inform the public about this situation. Unfortunately, those members of the public which do not currently have the TV or radio turned on, are not informed about the imminent emergency. Another known technique used to inform people about emergency situations are general public warning systems, such as sirens and the like. However, all geographic areas are covered with such warning systems and the installation and maintenance of new or additional warning systems is expensive.
Furthermore in the event of a power outage, for example, the involved public normally doesn""t get any information regarding the reasons for the power outage. The public also does not receive any information regarding the restoration of power, thereby creating an unsatisfactory situation. Thus, power outages are also emergency situations in which a need exists for establishing an effective means of communicating during the emergency.
One advantage of distributing a warning alert over an existing telecommunication system is that houses are not equipped with or are not connected to a siren or other kinds of known public warning systems. However, nearly every house is connected to a telecommunication and/or computer system.
In a preferred embodiment, the present invention provides a telecommunication-based warning distribution system having a central switch including a controller and a subscriber database, the subscriber database including information regarding a plurality of subscribers and subscriber characteristic data associated with each subscriber, the central switch coupled to a first plurality of communications devices associated with the plurality of subscribers; a remote switch coupled to the central switch, the remote switch coupled to a second plurality of communications devices associated with the second plurality of subscribers; and an emergency notification provider coupled to either of the central switch and the remote switch, the emergency notification provider generating a warning alert for subscribers having a particular subscriber characteristic and transmitting the warning alert to the central switch, the controller selecting a set of subscribers from the subscriber database that match the particular subscriber characteristic and routing the warning alert to the communication devices of the set of selected subscribers.
In a particular embodiment of the present invention, the subscriber characteristic is a geographic location of the communication devices for the selected subscribers determined by a phone number of the communication devices of the selected subscribers. In another aspect of the invention, the subscriber characteristic is an actual, GPS-determined geographic location of the communication devices. In yet another aspect, the subscriber characteristic is a power supply providing power to the selected subscribers or a communication service provider.
In another particular embodiment of the invention, the telecommunications-based warning system further has a base station coupled to a third plurality of mobile communication devices associated with the plurality of subscribers, the controller selecting at least one subscriber from the third plurality of subscribers as matching the particular subscriber characteristic and routing the warning alert to the third plurality of mobile communication devices of the selected subscribers.
In another particular embodiment of the invention, the communication device is a land-line telephone coupled to either of the central switch and the remote switch, or the communication device is a cellular telephone, a wireless personal data assistant or a personal computer.
In another aspect of the invention, the telecommunications-based warning further has a call signal generator, the call signal generator issuing ringing commands to the communication devices of the selected subscribers under control of the controller to distribute the warning alert.
In yet another aspect, the emergency notification provider is capable of providing a plurality of warning alerts corresponding to a plurality of emergency conditions, the emergency notification provider transmitting warning alert type data to the central switch with the warning alert, the controller selecting a set of subscribers from the subscriber database that match the particular subscriber characteristic based on the warning type data. In this aspect, the central switch further has a call signal generator and a ringing tone database having a plurality of ringing tones, each ringing tone associated with a different emergency condition, the call signal generator selecting a ringing tone according to the warning alert type data and issuing ringing commands corresponding to the selected ringing tone to the communication devices of the selected subscribers under control of the controller to distribute the warning alert. In this aspect, the first and second plurality of communication devices includes different communication device types and the central switch further includes a communication device database having data regarding ringing characteristics for each of the device types, the selected ringing tone for each communication device being further selected according to the ringing characteristic data. In another aspect of the invention including a plurality of emergency conditions, the central switch further has an announcement database having a plurality of emergency announcements, each announcement associated with a different emergency condition, the controller selecting an announcement according to the warning alert type data the controller routing the selected announcement to the communication devices of the selected subscribers as the warning alert. In still another aspect of the invention, the announcement is a synthesized voice announcement, a real-time voice announcement, or an alphanumeric text message.
In another aspect of the invention, the remote switch further includes a remote subscriber database having information regarding the plurality of subscribers associated with the second plurality of communications devices and a remote controller for receiving the warning alert form the central switch and selecting the set of subscribers from the remote subscriber database that match the particular subscriber characteristic, the remote controller routing the warning alert to the second plurality of communication devices of the subscribers selected by the remote controller. In still another aspect of the invention, the communication devices of the selected subscribers transmit a receipt message to the controller upon receiving the warning alert or transmits the receipt message from the communication device to the emergency warning provider. In another aspect of the invention, the warning alert is routed to the communication devices of the selected subscriber by interrupting an in-progress call with the selected subscriber, for example, where the in-progress call is interrupted by a tone, or a synthesized voice announcement.
In anther aspect of the invention, the central switch and the remote switch are part of a computer network coupled to the central and remote switches, the computer network being part of a voice communication system over a data network (xe2x80x98VoIPxe2x80x99), or the central switch and the remote switch are part of a wireless network coupled to the central and remote switches.
In another particularly preferred embodiment, a telecommunication-based warning distribution system is provided having a switch including a controller coupled to a subscriber database and a tone database, the subscriber database including information regarding a plurality of subscribers and subscriber characteristic data associated with each subscriber, the switch coupled to a plurality of communication devices associated with the plurality of subscribers, the tone database containing a plurality of ringing tones for use with the plurality of communication devices; and an emergency notification provider coupled to the switch, the emergency notification provider selecting a warning alert from a plurality of warning alerts corresponding to a plurality of emergency conditions, the emergency notification provider transmitting a particular subscriber characteristic and warning alert type data with the warning alert to the switch, the controller selecting a set of subscribers from the subscriber database that match the particular subscriber characteristic and a ringing tone from the tone database corresponding to the warning alert type data, the controller routing the selected tone to the communication devices of the set of selected subscribers. In this aspect, the plurality of communication devices may include different communication device types and the central switch further includes a communication device database having data regarding ringing characteristics for each of the device types, the selected ringing tone for each communication device being further selected according to the ringing characteristic data.
In yet another aspect, the central switch further has a call signal generator and an announcement database having a plurality of emergency announcements, each announcement associated with a different emergency condition, the controller selecting an announcement according to the warning alert type, the controller routing the selected announcement to the communication devices of the selected subscribers of the warning alert. In this aspect, the announcement is a synthesized voice announcement, a realtime voice announcement, or an alphanumeric text message.
In still another aspect of the invention, the warning alert is routed to the communication devices of at least one of the selected subscribers by interrupting an in-progress call with the selected subscriber.
In a particularly preferred method of the present invention, a warning is distributed using a telecommunication-based system and includes the steps of selecting a warning alert from a plurality of warning alerts corresponding to a plurality of emergency conditions, the warning alert including warning type data and subscriber characteristic data; and receiving at a switch the selected warning alert, the switch including a controller, a subscriber database including information regarding a plurality of subscribers and subscriber characteristic data associated with each subscriber, and a tone database containing a plurality of ringing tones for use with a plurality of communication devices associated with the subscribers; and selecting with the controller a set of subscribers from the subscriber database according to the subscriber characteristic data; and selecting a ringing tone from the tone database corresponding to the warning alert type data; and routing the selected ringing tone warning alert to the selected subscribers.
In a particular aspect, the method of distributing a warning includes the step of determining with the if the emergency notification provider possess permission to issue the warning alert to the subscribers, and wherein the routing step of the selected ringing tone warning alert is performed only for the selected subscribers for which the emergency notification provider has permission. In another aspect, the method of distributing a warning includes the step of verifying a password provided by an emergency notification provider sending the warning alert to the switch and wherein the routing step of the selected ringing tone warning alert is performed only to the selected subscribers for which the password has been verified, or receiving at the switch a confirmation message from the selected subscribers that receive the selected ringing tone warning alert, or wherein the routing step further includes interrupting an in-progress call with the selected subscriber to present the selected ringing tone warning alert.
In a final embodiment of the method of providing a warning alert over a telecommunication-based system in response to a warning alert request from an emergency notification provider includes the steps of receiving at a switch the warning alert request from the emergency notification provider, the warning alert request including subscriber characteristic data for routing the warning alert, the switch having a controller, a subscriber database including information regarding a plurality of subscribers and subscriber characteristic data associated with each subscriber, a billing database for recording charges related to the operation of the switch; and selecting with the controller a set of subscribers from the subscriber database according to the subscriber characteristic data; and routing the warning alert to the selected subscribers; and recording in the billing database a charge for each routed warning alert; and transmitting to an emergency service financier the charges recorded in the billing database.
In a particular aspect of the invention, the step of routing further includes the step of receiving at the switch a confirmation message from the selected subscribers that receive the warning alert; the step of recording further includes the step of recording the confirmation messages associated with each routed warning alert in the billing database; and the step of transmitting further includes the step of selecting the charges having the associated confirmation messages and transmitting the selected charges.
In another aspect of the invention, the method has the emergency service financier as a municipality, a government agency, or the emergency notification provider.